Hawks rise in Division 3, Cobras face off

Michael Davey

I keep banging on about the closeness of Division 3, but it was highlighted again in another close match at St James Park, where eighth place Swinburne hosted the ladder leading Glen Eira. The fine, windless arvo made it difficult to pinpoint the reason for the visitor’s wayward kicking. Perhaps it was angle of the sun or lack of goal kicking practice? Another theory behind Glen Eira’s inaccuracy was that their players were bedazzled by Swinburne’s Will ‘Badger’ McDonald’s majestic mullet, which can stop traffic on Burwood Road. Another, more plausible reason was that the high number of top line players out, which provided an opportunity for the Gryphon’s to blood some new talent. Two debutants to stand out were the skipper’s 17 year-old brother, Jack Richardson, who weaved through some heavy traffic to kick a great first quarter goal, and Joel Ludik who answered the call with two majors in a dominant last quarter.

Swinburne were relentless in their challenge during the game, and after a tight first half, the home side slammed on seven goals to two in the third to lead by 16 points at the last break, and the Razorbacks could smell blood. Coach Edgar remained cool and had unwavering faith in his charges, emphatically reinforcing the message of “believe in each other and the plan, and then the scoreboard will take care of itself”. An enormous final quarter from the Gryphons, led by the irrepressible Lachlan Pound, saw them kick four majors and keep their opponents scoreless and win by two goals.  Brandon Rich, Justin Trinne, Daniel Close (3 goals), Ben Higgins (4 goals), Will Joyce and Nick Mauran were great for the brave Razorbacks. The inspirational Stuart Carey was BOG for the Gryphons, supported by debutants ‘Little Richo’ and Ludik, with Connor Huthwaite terrific at half back, the smooth moving Nathan Dennis and Daniel Entwistle with four goals. The ladder leaders remain the only undefeated team in the division after Canterbury lost their battle to the Cobras.

Hawthorn travelled to Ringwood to take on Aquinas, who were up and running after last week’s win. The Bloods started the game where they left off last week, with the classy Jim Wright providing plenty of hard run early, as they got out to a handy four goal break despite the hard defensive work from Tom Boots and ‘Ranchie’ Monohan, playing his 100th game in front of a rousing cheer squad. The Hawks were struggling in the second with only one goal and 11 behinds, before 3 late term goals saw them snatch a half time lead. Hawthorn’s second half accuracy balanced their score sheet, with Rick Ogge kicking the first of 5 unanswered Hawk’s goals from the boundary, which was only broken by a late Harry Dwyer major. The last term was a 9 goal to nil romp for the Hawks, highlighted by Ciaron ‘Irish’ McAdam’s major from the boundary. In their strongest win for the year, Hawthorn’s percentage got a great boost with their best players including Justin Raiti, Darcy Johnston, Coady Travaglia, Sid Whittle, ‘Centurion’ Monohan and Aaron Downie. One positive for the Bloods is the form of Jim Wright, who was their best player for the third week in a row, while Billy O’Loughlin, James Morris and Ben Zwarts all played well.

The battle of the Cobras saw Manningham host Canterbury (and a well-attended Ladies Day) at Koonung. The home team lead at the first change, before the visitors countered with a four goal to one quarter, positioning them with a five point buffer at the main break. The boys from Bulleen came out firing in the third term, booting the next five goals, highlighted by some great bullocking work by ‘Sugar’ Maghamez (5 goals), who then dished off a handball for a great team goal. Canterbury went to the last break staring at their first loss for 2018, and came out playing fast and furious footy, but Manningham stood up to inflict Canterbury’s first loss of the season.

Clearly married life agrees with skipper Ayden Sukkel, who post game hoisted the ‘Cobra Cup’ and hasn’t missed a beat since his late start to the season. He was well supported by ‘Adsy’ Pianto, the hard tackling Lin-Tse Hong, Nick Zappala, Big Tom Flood and Cam Ruwoldt. Sam Murphy, whose sublime foot passing once again earnt him the BOG for Canterbury, with team mates Sean Hanrahan, Rob Goodwin, Mitchell Szabo (3 goals), Alex Carapetis and Harry Berenger all playing well. During his post-match player address, Manningham coach Frank Salanitri was glowing in the praise of the “the blokes that came in to the side all did their jobs, and they’re going to be awfully hard to hold out of the team next week”.

Richmond Central travelled to Parade College to battle La Trobe University in their Round 5 clash at La Trobe Uni. After the stinging lessons of last week’s loss, the Snakes were hungry for a win. Tight Richmond defence kept the Trobers goalless in the first quarter, and the strong pressure continued through the second term, when captain Jake King took a hard knock to the head that ruled him out for the rest of the game. The Burnley boys knuckled down to kick away for an impressive second half which included a nine-goal third term, before they ran away 112 point victors. Richmond’s winning margin was enhanced by their accuracy and La Trobe’s errant kicking. A three goal haul saw ‘Dutchy’ Holland named best for the Snakes, supported by Kyall Fenaroli, Harry Crowe, Stewart Beswick, Matthew Lammeretz and Steven Bugeja (4 goals). The home team’s best included Seb Nelson, Josh Horder Tom Mooney and Andy Castles.

In a game of two contrasting halves and straight kicking, Westbourne Grammarians hosted the Albert Park Falcons. The visitors jumped out to an early lead at the first break, before the Grammarians clawed back the lead to trail by nine behinds at the main break. The home team’s accuracy kept them in the game in the first half, and helped them to dominate the second half. Westbourne’s five goals to one in the third term was bettered by their nine goal to two final term, that saw them run out 10 goal winners. Westbourne’s Dan Stoios, Charles Hunter and Justin Porter continued their good early season form, supported by William Wright, Chris Hudson and Ali Eqbal who was among the goals again. Dale Seiler, Jack Amies, Justin Mahoney and Nick Hornstein were best for the Falcons, who’ll be looking to bounce back next week when host La Trobe Uni.